Greeley schools offer financial-aid advice on College Goal Sunday

Whitney Phillips/ wphillips@greeleytribune.com
College hopefuls visited the University of Northern Colorado campus Sunday afternoon to work with financial aid professionals who provided free guidance. The event, organized by UNC, Aims Community College and Colorado State University's Educational Opportunity Center in Greeley, was part of national College Goal Sunday, which aims to help prospective students work through the intimidating process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

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For Gladis Collins and her son, David Franco, College Goal Sunday was a family affair.

Both Collins, 55, and her son, 18, were looking for answers on how to reach their higher education goals when they attended Sunday’s event at the University of Northern Colorado. Collins said she is hoping to attend Aims Community College to earn an associate’s degree. Franco, a senior at Greeley Central High School, is already taking classes at Aims but hopes to eventually earn a degree as a network engineer.

“Now we know what we need to do,” Collins said after working with financial aid professionals at the event.

Sunday’s event, held in a computer lab in the University Center from 1-3 p.m., was a combined effort by UNC, Aims and the Educational Opportunity Center at Colorado State University. Nearly 30 financial aid professionals and student services employees provided free help, in English and Spanish, to guide students and their families through the often-daunting process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Nancy Gray, financial aid director at Aims, said the same event took place at the same time across the state and nation. She said higher education institutions work together to help students explore their financial aid options, no matter which school they want to attend.

“We just want to heighten the awareness that there are funds available,” Gray said. “It’s really community-based; it’s not school-based.”

Marty Somero, financial aid director at UNC and the event’s coordinator, said the goal is partly to remind students that the deadline to file FAFSA paperwork is March 1 at many schools. “Missing that deadline can cost families thousands of dollars,” Somero said.

Still, Somero said students should keep in mind that those deadlines aren’t necessarily finite, so they should still file applications after March 1.

Greeley’s College Goal Sunday has been around for seven years, and it’s been held on the UNC campus for the past three. Last year’s event drew about 187 people. About 150 had attended halfway through Sunday’s event.